


mint chocolate chip ice cream

by sedsempersolo



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Babies, F/M, Fluff, Kids, ben drives an ice cream truck, past relationship, this is so bad and so fluffy i'm sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:13:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25635613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sedsempersolo/pseuds/sedsempersolo
Summary: Ben is serving ice cream at a local park when a little girl runs up. She reminds him of his ex-girlfriend, Rey.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 6
Kudos: 74
Collections: Summer Fic Exchange 2020





	mint chocolate chip ice cream

**Author's Note:**

  * For [reylotrash711](https://archiveofourown.org/users/reylotrash711/gifts).



> The prompts I got in this exchange were WONDERFUL, and I had great plans of writing an ambitious multi-chap...but then July went unexpectedly crazy and all I have to offer is this terrible fluff oneshot! So sorry, you're the best, and please enjoy!

Ben often wonders if he knew, when he woke up that summer day, how his life would change. He likes to imagine that he had a feeling, a premonition, about what was to come.

He rises in the early morning, stretching for a moment in the warmth from the beam of sunlight falling through his window. A cup of coffee, a change of clothes, and he’s out the door, clicking his key fob to unlock his truck. He clambers in the front seat, takes a sip of his coffee, and sets off toward the park.

Heat rises from the sidewalk in waves. Sunlight streams through the trees overhead, and the greenery of the park is so bright it’s nearly neon. The delighted shrieks of children fill the air. Ben wipes the sweat from his forehead as he turns to scoop rainbow sherbet into a cone. He hands it to the woman standing outside the truck, and smiles at her as she shepherds her little family away toward the swing set. 

It’s yet another blazing hot day in July, and Ben’s ice cream truck is parked alongside one of the busier parks in the city. On days like this, he’s grateful he chose to peddle frozen foods, rather than anything warm, like poor Chewie and his hot dog stand down the block. 

There’s been a constant stream of customers all day, but now Ben has a moment to rest and catch his breath. He sighs, stretches, and reaches for his water bottle. His phone, water, keys, and other personal items are set off to the side in their designated place. Several photos are taped to the wall above them. Ben’s parents, baby Ben and his dog Artoo, Ben at his high school graduation, and lastly, the picture he knows he should take down, and yet never has the heart to. A woman’s face fills the frame, a grin stretched across her face and her eyes wrinkled in mirth. She’s the one that got away. His teenage girlfriend, Rey. 

Ben takes a moment to reflect. It’s been years now since he last saw her - five years, if he’s doing the math right. They were madly in love, or so Ben had thought. He’d certainly been in love with her from the moment she walked into his math class in senior year of high school. They’d been together for all of senior year, but a stupid argument after graduation tore them apart. These days, Ben can’t even remember what they’d argued about. They’d both stormed off in a huff, having yelled that they ought to take a break. Ben had been a stupid, arrogant teenager then, and he had never imagined that he and Rey would be broken up permanently. But the next day, Rey left a note on his doorstep: she was leaving town, and they were broken up - for good. 

Ben shakes himself out of his reminisces. From across the park, he hears a small voice shriek, “Ice cream!” 

Ben chuckles. Sure enough, a few moments later, a little girl comes running full-speed toward his truck. She’s absolutely precious in her light-up sneakers and hot pink sundress. Her brown hair is tied up in three little buns at the back of her head. A red blush spreads across her cheeks from the exertion of sprinting across the park in the nearly 100-degree weather. Excitement fills her big brown eyes as she screeches to a halt in front of the truck. 

“Hi there,” Ben calls out, leaning out over the counter so she can see him. 

“Hi!” she responds cheerily. “Are you the ice cream man?”

Ben laughs. “I sure am. But did you come to see me all by yourself? Where are your parents?” He’s dealt with enough overeager, ice cream-hungry kids to detect when one’s run off without parental permission.

“Oh, um,” the girl hums guiltily, as if she’s realized she’s done something wrong. She tucks her hands behind her back and rocks up onto her toes. “I don’t have a daddy, but I came here with my mommy.”

“Does your mommy know you’re getting ice cream?” Ben asks, injecting a bit of sternness into his voice. 

“Umm, maybe?” she responds. Ben bites his lip to hide his smile. 

A woman’s frantic yell echoes across the park. “Kira! Kira, where are you?”

Ben and the little girl both look up, eyes catching on the woman running toward them. 

Ben’s jaw drops. 

It may have been a few years, but Ben would recognize her no matter how much time had passed. Her hair is shorter now, cut just above her shoulders. Sunglasses shield her melted-chocolate eyes from his view. She’s dressed in the vibrant colors she’d always preferred, and the same ancient, worn-down Converse adorn her feet. 

It’s Rey. 

Emotions, too many to name, flood his heart. She’s beautiful. He can’t believe he’s looking at her again. Why did she leave him? Did he ever stop loving her? 

“Mommy, I’m right here!” the little girl hollers, waving her arms through the air. Rey clutches her chest, letting out a noise of relief. She runs the rest of the way to the truck, then drops to her knees and scoops the girl to her chest. 

“Don’t ever run away from me like that again!” Rey says, anger and relief and love mixed in her tone. 

“Sorry, Mommy,” the girl says quietly, her voice muffled against her mother’s chest. “I just wanted ice cream.” 

Rey lets her go, then pushes her sunglasses on top of her head and glances up to take stock of her surroundings. And she sees Ben.

His mouth is still open in shock, Ben realizes. He closes it, then parts his lips again. “Rey?” The word is formed as a question, but Ben knows the answer. 

Rey swallows, head turning from him to Kira and back again. She stands and whispers, “Ben."

“Do you know him?” Kira butts in, eyes darting between them. Rey is speechless.

Ben gives Kira a tremulous smile. “Yes, I know your mom,” he says gently. He looks back at Rey. 

She’s nervous, he notes. She’s biting her lip, and subtly shifting her weight from foot to foot. She reaches out to run her hands down Kira’s hair, as if to reassure herself of something. 

Why is she nervous? Why did she leave him, all those years ago?

Ben looks down at Kira again. She’s almost the spitting image of Rey, but there’s something about her nose, and the big ears that stick out on the side of her head…Ben does the math. He knows in his heart that this is his daughter.

Ben snaps his head up to look at Rey. She has tears in her eyes. 

“Ben,” she says tremulously. “This is Kira.” 

There’s a lump in his throat, and he can’t stop blinking. 

“Is she…?” Ben can’t quite get the words out, but Rey knows what he means.

Rey nods at him. 

Ben slowly smiles, then looks down at the little girl. “What kind of ice cream would you like, Kira?”

“Mint chocolate chip!” she yelps, her enthusiasm returning. 

“Would you like to sit and eat with us?” Rey asks softly. 

“I’d like that very much,” Ben says.

Years later, as Ben wakes up again, in a different bed this time, he thinks back on that day. Maybe he didn’t have a premonition about what was to come. He still doesn’t know where life will lead him next. But as he looks over at his wife and sleeping daughter, he knows his life has never been better. He’ll tackle whatever comes next as long as he has them by his side.

**Author's Note:**

> Again...this is truly terrible. But the prompts were amazing. Thanks for reading!


End file.
